LONDON / NEW YORK — Brent crude fell 3.6% to $94.00 a barrel on Monday, November 9, extending the steepest weekly slide since the Covid-19 pandemic, as Qatar's prime minister headed to the White House with an Iranian proposal for an interim deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. WTI crude dropped 3% to $88.09 and US natural gas rose 0.8% to $3.02 per MMBtu as of 7:26 a.m. ET, OilPrice reported. CoinDesk's live market coverage put WTI down as much as 4% at about $87.20 a barrel later in the morning.

Source: OilPrice.com, Nov 9 2026

This is a follow-up to this desk's earlier Monday report, when Brent opened the week near $97.67 as President Trump played down new strikes on Iran — the fall deepened through Monday morning as the Qatari-brokered proposal reached Washington. Read the earlier report: oil falls at Monday open

The reported terms: Hormuz reopened, $8 billion released

Iran has signed off on the Qatari-brokered terms, according to two diplomatic sources who spoke to Israeli media. Under the reported terms, Tehran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and halt attacks on Gulf tankers; Washington would lift its naval and economic blockade of Iran and release $8 billion (yaani about $8,000 crore) in Iranian funds frozen in Qatar. Iran would drop its demand to control the strait and charge transit fees, but still refuses to put its nuclear programme on the table. Neither government has confirmed the terms.

The proposal arrives at a divided White House: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth reportedly oppose a deal along these lines. Trump said on Sunday that renewed US strikes on Iran are "highly unlikely" if negotiations produce a strong agreement, while Rubio, speaking in Florida the same day, called Iran's demands "outrageous and ridiculous" and said the two sides are not close to a breakthrough. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran's offer to reopen Hormuz within two days stands, on condition that the war ends on all fronts.

Qatar's prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, is meeting President Trump and Vice President Vance at the White House on Monday — the meeting this proposal is being carried into. Read: Trump to meet Qatar's PM on Iran mediation

$94.00Brent crude per barrel, down 3.6% Monday morning ET
$88.09WTI crude per barrel, down 3% (intraday low about $87.20, down 4%)
$8 billionIranian funds frozen in Qatar that the reported proposal would release (yaani about $8,000 crore)
-16%Brent's fall last week — its steepest weekly drop since the Covid-19 pandemic
$99.17Murban crude, the physical Gulf benchmark, UP 3.4% in Asian trading — physical Gulf oil still pricing risk

Why the physical market is not celebrating yet

Shipping through Hormuz came under fire again over the weekend, with Washington and Tehran both reporting attacks on vessels in or near the strait: the UK Maritime Trade Operations reported an outbound tanker struck by an unidentified projectile in the strait and a tanker on fire about eight nautical miles northwest of Khasab, Oman, whose crew was evacuated. Iranian media said no vessels crossed the strait on Sunday. The Iran-aligned Houthis claimed a strike on Saudi Aramco's offices in Riyadh on Sunday, which sustained limited damage. That is why Murban crude rose even as paper benchmarks fell — and why a similar US–Iran memorandum reached in Switzerland in May collapsed after an Iranian attack on oil tankers in the strait.

Source: TradingView / Dow Jones, Nov 9 2026

What is solid

  • Brent fell 3.6% to $94.00 and WTI fell 3% to $88.09 by 7:26 a.m. ET Monday, extending last week's 16% Brent slide
  • Qatar's prime minister is meeting Trump at the White House Monday as the key mediator in efforts to end the Iran war
  • Araghchi says Iran's two-day Hormuz reopening offer stands if the war ends on all fronts; Rubio calls Iran's demands outrageous and says no breakthrough is close

What is only claimed

  • The $8 billion / blockade-lifting terms come from two unnamed diplomatic sources speaking to Israeli media — neither Washington nor Tehran has confirmed them, and four senior US cabinet members reportedly oppose such a deal
  • Price levels moved through the morning: Brent was quoted near $97 earlier and $94 by mid-morning ET, and WTI between about $87.20 and $90.17 depending on the time of the quote

What happens next — and why it matters in the Gulf

Everything now turns on the White House meeting: if Trump accepts the framework, Hormuz shipping — through which about a fifth of global petroleum consumption moves — could reopen within days under Iran's two-day offer; if he rejects it or attaches nuclear conditions Tehran refuses, traders warn the risk premium returns just as fast. For the lakhs of Punjabi and Indian workers across the Gulf, a reopened strait means steadier fuel, food and flight routes; another collapse, like May's, means the opposite. Gold, meanwhile, rose about 1.6% to near $4,129 an ounce on Monday as investors kept a safety bid.